ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Steve Jobs made four eerily accurate predictions for future before death

Home> News> Technology

Published 14:13 19 Mar 2026 GMT

Steve Jobs made four eerily accurate predictions for future before death

He wasn't right about everything, but he got a lot of his predictions right

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

Before he died Steve Jobs made a number of predictions about the way the world of technology would change and develop as time went by and he was quite accurate with a few of them.

Back in 1996, Steve Jobs told Wired about his thoughts on where technology was heading in the next few years, and he got to see quite a few of those changes in person before passing away in 2011.

Looking at these predictions it helps explain some of Apple's business decisions in the noughties as well as the rise of major tech giants like Amazon.

Of course you can't be right all the time and some of the things Jobs predicted panned out differently to his expectations.

Advert

It just goes to show that the future remains that undiscovered country where we can make our best guesses for what it holds but we won't really know until we finally get there.

Steve Jobs in 1996 managed to make some fairly accurate predictions about the future of technology (Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)
Steve Jobs in 1996 managed to make some fairly accurate predictions about the future of technology (Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

The internet will be everywhere

No wonder the first iPhone came with the ability to get on the internet, as a little over 30 years ago Jobs told Wired 'the most exciting things happening today are objects and the web'.

Describing the internet as 'ubiquitous', he predicted 'there will be web dial tone everywhere'.

That one was slightly wide of the mark given how we moved beyond dial-up (if you don't know what that is, ask your parents), but the idea that everyone would be on the internet everywhere proved to be pretty much bang on.

He had said: "One of the major reasons for the Web's proliferation so far is its simplicity.

"A lot of people want to make the Web more complicated. They want to put processing on the clients, they want to do this and that. I hope not too much of that happens too quickly.

"It's much like the old mainframe computing environment, where a Web browser is like a dumb terminal and the Web server is like the mainframe where all the processing's done.

"This simple model has had a profound impact by starting to become ubiquitous."

The internet certainly has become a bit more complicated since he said that, but the internet's growing dominance over the last few decades cannot be denied.

The internet is going to be everywhere? Wonder how that one happened, Steve (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
The internet is going to be everywhere? Wonder how that one happened, Steve (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

Online shopping

The world of e-commerce is booming like never before as companies like Amazon are able to afford their own spaceships and almost anything you can think of can be bought online.

Back in 1996, Jobs said you just had to 'think of all the people now bringing goods and services directly to customers through the web' and predicted there'd be 'an incredible amount of work' involved with businesses selling online.

He turned out to be right, as he said: "It's more than publishing. It's commerce. People are going to stop going to a lot of stores. And they're going to buy stuff over the Web!

"The Web is not going to change the world, certainly not in the next 10 years. It's going to augment the world. And once you're in this Web-augmented space, you're going to see that democratization takes place.

"The Web's not going to capture everybody. If the Web got up to 10 percent of the goods and services in this country, it would be phenomenal.

"I think it'll go much higher than that. Eventually, it will become a huge part of the economy."

One could argue that the internet did change the world over the next 10 years, and over the next 20 it continued to grow.

Developed economies in particular have seen more and more shopping done online, and Jobs predicting people would 'stop going to a lot of stores' turned out to be very true.

He was right that people would really take to buying things online (Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
He was right that people would really take to buying things online (Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Cloud storage

Cloud storage was actually invented years before Jobs was speaking in 1996, and AT&T were already calling web-based storage 'the cloud' in their adverts in 1994.

However, the Apple boss did turn out to be right about how much more storage would be shunted onto it.

"You may not have to manage your own storage. You may not store much before too long," Jobs suggested.

"I don't store anything anymore, really. I use a lot of e-mail and the Web, and with both of those I don't have to ever manage storage.

"As a matter of fact, my favorite way of reminding myself to do something is to send myself e-mail. That's my storage."

While cloud storage was already a thing when he was talking back then it wouldn't go mainstream until the following decade where he'd have lived to see himself proven right.

He called the online car market too (John Keeble/Getty Images)
He called the online car market too (John Keeble/Getty Images)

Ordering cars online

This is another one the Apple boss turned out to be correct about, as he reckoned you'd be able to order a car online with your preferences keyed in rather than having to find that exact model at a dealership.

"So much money is spent on inventory - billions and billions of dollars. Inventory is not a good thing. Inventory ties up a ton of cash, it's open to vandalism, it becomes obsolete. It takes a tremendous amount of time to manage.

"And, usually, the car you want, in the color you want, isn't there anyway, so they've got to horse-trade around. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of all that inventory?

"Just have one white car to drive and maybe a laserdisc so you can look at the other colors. Then you order your car and you get it in a week."

Going hand in hand with the rise of e-commerce, this one is now something pretty much anyone wanting to buy a car can do if they really want.

RIP Steve, you would have loved ordering a car online.

He didn't think people would use the internet to get information, turned out to be wrong there Steve (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
He didn't think people would use the internet to get information, turned out to be wrong there Steve (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)

Can't win them all, Steve

In one prediction that turned out not to be true, Jobs reckoned people wouldn't use the internet to get their information as he thought people's attention span was already occupied with TV.

He said: "We live in an information economy, but I don't believe we live in an information society. People are thinking less than they used to.

"It's primarily because of television. People are reading less and they're certainly thinking less. So, I don't see most people using the Web to get more information. We're already in information overload.

"No matter how much information the Web can dish out, most people get far more information than they can assimilate anyway."

If only he knew many people's TV watching habits would turn out to be lying on the sofa barely paying attention while looking at things online thanks to their phone.

Featured Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Topics: Steve Jobs, Technology, Apple

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Recommended reads

Man diagnosed with autism aged 42 shares signs that were ‘misdiagnosed’ for yearsTikTok/millennialdadDoctor explains who really needs to take Omega-3 supplement that is one of most common in world(Getty Stock Images)Single mum shares dark reality of OnlyFans as she vows to never touch it againX/Emmerald BarwiseHow position of ‘black band’ tattoo can have very different meanings as X-rated meaning sharedTikTok

Advert

  • People are all noticing one detail in email Steve Jobs sent himself a year before his death
  • Steve Jobs would ask employee one question every day for important reason
  • Steve Jobs would use 'beer test' when interviewing people at Apple
  • Man who worked for Steve Jobs explains why he ‘wasn’t a nice man’ revealing brutal conversation they had

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
3 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • TikTok/millennialdad
    2 hours ago

    Man diagnosed with autism aged 42 shares signs that were ‘misdiagnosed’ for years

    Tyler Barnett said he felt 'so much relief' after finally getting the answers he had been searching for all of his life

    News
  • (Solent News)
    2 hours ago

    Jeremy Clarkson makes offer to four-year-old girl who had egg stall stolen while celebrating birthday

    The Clarkson's Farm star made a generous offer after Maisie Willis had her egg stand stolen

    News
  • YouTube/@Lord Miles
    3 hours ago

    Man snuck onto Snake Island where no human is allowed to visit

    "Many have been to this island and very few have gotten out"

    News
  • PA
    5 hours ago

    Tragic reality as ‘war zone’ stomach bug left eight dead in Cape Verde with 2,000 tourists taking legal action

    Eight visitors have died many others are severely ill following an outbreak of stomach illnesses in Cape Verde

    News